Washington D.C., Jul 21, 2009 / 17:13 pm
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has said that President Barack Obama made the same comments to Pope Benedict XVI that he made to Planned Parenthood in 2007 concerning reductions in the numbers of abortions.
In a Monday conversation with CNSNews.com, the news reporter referred to President Obama’s visit to the Vatican, saying “he reportedly told the Pope that he would work to and do all he could to reduce the number of abortions.”
Gibbs then interrupted: “I think he said -- he said that in a speech to Planned Parenthood in 2007, so yes.”
During President Obama’s meeting with Pope Benedict earlier this month, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said, the president made a “very explicit” promise to work to reduce the number of abortions.
“The pontiff told me that President Obama affirmed his personal commitment to try to reduce the number of abortions in the United States,” Lombardi remarked, according to Vatican Radio.